I run a charter boat in the Thames estuary and in the course of my working week fish more times a week than most, I have been using braid for over three years now and have come to a number of conclusions from my experiences.
Firstly I have only used one make of braid and that is Spiderwire in 20lb breaking strain; this is the same diameter as 6lb monofilament. With the reduced diameter I find that I can fish most of our tides with a 3oz wired lead (Gemini or Breakaway). I also use a Team Daiwa 2-8oz uptider that is very sensitive and forgiving in the tip.
You must be a very competent caster to use a multiplier reel with braid as a main line and I have not tried a fixed spool reel with braid except as a marker rod for carp fishing.
I always fish with the braid right through to the swivel (no shock leader) as I think this defeats the object as you lose some of the sensitivity, but you have adapt your technique when playing the fish. This is against the run of popular opinion, which says that you should have a length of monofilament as a shock leader.
As I mainly use the uptiding method there is no need to strike the fish, which must be done with care if you decide to strike when using braid. I keep the clutch set very light on my reel (ABU 6500c) to the extent that I have to thumb the spool when pumping the fish and as yet I have not lost a fish (due to the braid) with this method in the three years I have used braid.
Unfortunately there are drawbacks with the methods I have described. I find that the braid gets scuffed up on the sea bed so I have to cut a length (1-2 feet) off after every trip. Also I have found that the braid can dig in when you have pumped in a large fish, so I either pull some braid off the reel and rewind it back on. Alternatively give it a gentle cast out and rewind it before I bait up. Failure to do either of these results in a birdsnest.
You do not want a birdsnest when fishing with braid because you cannot untangle it and you have to cut it out, which is very expensive. For the last three years I have used one 110-yard spool of braid per year which I wound on top of the existing monofilament onmy reel.
Please remember that you cannot use all your usual knots with braid, stick to the palomar and grinner knots for safety, but you can use a lighter rod and weight than you are used to and be amazed at the difference.
I do not think braid would be suitable for beach fishing unless you were using a fixed spool reel, but I have no experience of this.
